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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26244280">No Sympathies for Monsters</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/neverweremine/pseuds/neverweremine'>neverweremine</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>More Spider Than Man [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Ultimate Spider-Man (Cartoon 2012)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Ableist Language, Asphyxiation, Blood and Gore, Choking, Gen, Mentions of Cannabilism, No actual cannabilism committed, Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 13:00:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,300</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26244280</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/neverweremine/pseuds/neverweremine</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"No," he shouted, walking forward despite the trembling knees and fluttering intestines, "I'm not letting you do that. If you want to get to Pete, you'll have to go through me."</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>More Spider Than Man [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1876846</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>27</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>No Sympathies for Monsters</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/X_Gon_Give_It/gifts">X_Gon_Give_It</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Commission for X_Gon_Give_It!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>[HARRY OSBORN]</p><p><br/>
Harry froze as the words washed over him. It was looking for Peter Parker? They were willing to show this - this monster to his best friend and let it do god-knows-what with him? A boulder sank in his stomach even as a wave of relief settled over his skin. Peter was out for the week, taking the Stark Industries tour. If he'd been here, if he'd decided to visit Harry after school and the monster got him? Harry would never forgive himself… but he might still not forgive himself because these so-called superheroes were willing to throw Peter under the bus just to get their teammate back. Not on his watch.</p><p>"No," he shouted, walking forward despite the trembling knees and fluttering intestines, "I'm not letting you do that. If you want to get to Pete, you'll have to go through me."</p><p>Disbelief and doubt shrouded the room like a palpable cloud; like his dad after he told him he'd gotten an A on his own. Despite the grief and nightmares which still plagued him, for the tiniest second, he wished he had the venom symbiote. Then they'd stop staring at him as if he were only a bug on the windshield. Then they'd take him seriously.</p><p>"We have this settled," said Nova. "You stay here and go on with your day. This is between us and him."</p><p>Surprisingly, someone jumped to his defense. "No," hissed the thing that was once Spider-Man, which now resembled the complete opposite; a Man-Spider. "The boy comes with. He said the boy would help reveal Parker's location."</p><p>He? He who? Well, who else, Harry thought bitterly. Who else could guide this creature through the main lobby, into the penthouse, through his father's room to a secret alcove no one knew of without tripping an alarm? Who else would want a nobody like Peter Parker? Dad. Dad wanted Peter for whatever reason and it stung, stung like a thousand wasps on the side of his face, but what else was there to expect?</p><p>No one ever wanted Harry. He was used to that.</p><p>"No deal," said White Tiger. She came between them, interrupting Man-Spider's line of sight, shoulders bunched up and claws out as if offering protection like a superhero. Which was ironic, considering two seconds ago she was prepared to serve his best friend on a sacrificial platter. "He stays here and we take you to Peter."</p><p>The Spider pressed his body low as if preparing to leap over her and kidnap him right from under her. He had no doubts that he could do it too. "The boy comes with," Man-Spider growled.</p><p>A tense standoff followed; the room ripe with anticipation. He clenched his fists. Shouldn't he have a say in this? Not that he'd be able to decide between staying at home worrying about Peter's safety or following the anti-hero brigade to try to sabotage their search efforts, but it was the principle of the matter. After what felt like an eternity of hair raising tension, Nova stepped forward with an explosive, "Fine! He comes with. Let's go already."</p><p>Before he could argue his opinion, a web landed on his chest and the world turned topsy turvy. "What the -! Let me go!" He yelled as his feet left the ground, his head and limbs bouncing with every bound the Spider made. He stretched his arms out for help but the others were too busy parkouring/flying to the rooftop hatch to pay him any mind.</p><p>Well, that's great. How was he supposed to explain 12 foot high footprints to the maid service?</p><p>.</p><p>There were three bikes atop the roof, which answered the question of how they got there. Harry dug in his heels and tugged on the web as hard as he could to get Man-Spider to stop, but of course, the freak was stronger, dragging Harry along the roof like a ragdoll with no signs of stopping. Wait. He wasn't stopping.</p><p>He karate-chopped the web and when it did nothing but bend, he hurried to take off his sweater, which was smart, seeing as how Man-Spider only stopped once he reached the rooftop's edge, the sweater flying past him like a kite only to fall off the rooftop's edge into depths unknown. That could've been him. That could've been him dangling from a 90-story skyscraper like a bungee jumper over four-lane New York traffic.</p><p>Oh god, what had he gotten dragged into?</p><p>"Where?" hissed Man-Spider, his head turned to the city skyline. His face gave no indication of thought spared for the sweater dangling in the New York winds. "Where is the Peter Parker?"</p><p>"Hold your horses," said White Tiger, similarly blasé on how he could've been a sidewalk pancake. "We have to...triangulate his location. We'll know where he is in a sec."</p><p>The Man-Spider, there was no other word for it, rippled; his legs and arms shifting as if it were doing its own private dance of impatience. Harry shuddered and hurried to where the others huddled up near their bikes, pressing close to Powerman and angling them so that the other boy's broad shoulders eclipsed his vision of the horrible monster highlighted by the mid-afternoon sun.</p><p>"- it'll be risky. You might have trouble on your hands," stated an older voice. The super not-heroes were gathered around a communicator where a guy in a lab coat spoke through a holographic interface. It seemed that while he was busy trying to not become a humpty dumpty, they were busy wrapping up a tail-end of a super secret conversation.</p><p>"It's a risk we're willing to take. Over and out."</p><p>A risk they were willing to take, huh? He shoved his way into their little circle. "I'm not letting you take him to Peter."</p><p>"Relax, Osborn. We don't even know who this 'Peter Parker' kid is," informed Nova...except there was something off with his voice. It was almost too casual in its delivery. "We're going to do a few loops around the city until SHIELD contacts us when a lab is prepped. Then we're going to very conveniently say we found this Parker kid, take Spidey to the lab, trap him, and then turn him back. All you have to do is sit pretty and pretend to lure this 'Peter' kid out so Spidey doesn't get suspicious and run back to Gobby, got it?"</p><p>"You want me to what? I'm not doing that. Why would I do that?"</p><p>Iron Fist clapped his shoulder and it was only sheer shock at the absurdity coming out of Nova's mouth which prevented him from shrugging it off. "We all have our burdens to bear in life, and this one is yours."</p><p>"Plus," added Powerman, "I don't think you have much of a choice. Something tells me Spidey's not leaving without you."</p><p>They all eyed Man-Spider, whose glimmering void eyes stared back at them in endless patience. Endless, creepy patience. Harry experimentally took a step back and Man-Spider mirrored him; taking one step closer.</p><p>"Right." He took in a deep breath and tried not to cough on the faint traces of pollution in the air. Guess this was his life now. "At least let me ride on your bikes. Please, I don't want to be a yoyo toy and I'm not above begging."</p><p>.</p><p>He rode behind Iron Fist. Iron Fist, who had no qualms riding through the streets of New York and sometimes the skyscrapers of New York. Yup, that was right. Their fancy SHIELD bikes could ride on walls and it would've been more awe-inspiring if he didn't swear his butt was sliding off the seat every time they were 90 degrees on a wall. Iron Fist, at least, tried to warn him when they had to ride walls to keep in sight with Mr. Horrifying Monster and Mr. Bucket-Fly, but the heads-up sometimes made it worse.</p><p>"Why are there no seat-belts on this thing?" he yelled as they once again merged with normal traffic. His arms were getting stiff from his full-body embrace of the other boy and he was pretty sure another horizontal ride would need new pants.</p><p>"It's a motorcycle," stated Iron Fist with the calm demeanor of an adrenaline junkie staring at a 'mere' twenty feet drop.</p><p>"That doesn't mean there shouldn't be seat-belts!"</p><p>"I am right here. There is no need to yell."</p><p>"When is the lab ready? It's been an hour!"</p><p>"It's only been 10 minutes."</p><p>Harry whimpered. What was he even doing? Couldn't he have stayed home? He bemoaned his ordinary day plans of drinking soda and playing video games. Again, he cursed Peter for having left him alone. At least if Peter had been there, they could've gotten captured together and they could've skipped the wait time and gone straight to traumatic action. What did his dad even want with Peter anyway? Why send this horrifying transformed version of Spider-Man-</p><p>- And then it clicked. Transformations. Peter. The missing cannister that was in his dad's room. Despite every reassurance from MJ and Pete and even himself - the delusions he created to make up for his father's lack of love - he always knew he wasn't the son Norman wanted. No, Peter fit the bill better than he ever could - that is, if it weren't for his general wimpiness, but he'd bet whatever was in that hole in the wall could more than makeup for any deficiencies his dad deemed Peter had.</p><p>Visions of Peter goblin-ified flashed through Harry's mind, each version more horrific than the last. Shit. Just how many monsters can one man make?</p><p>He buried his head in Iron Fist's shoulder and tightened his arms. It was pathetic, using a not-superhero he didn't even like for a hug, but between the break-neck speeds and 90-degree wall treading, it wasn't like the other teen would be able to tell between him clinging for safety and him clinging for comfort...right?</p><p>A few minutes later, when the wind had blown the last of the tears from his face, Iron Fist spoke. "You okay back there?"</p><p>"Peachy."</p><p>.</p><p>A few rounds around the block later, Iron Fist stalled in the middle of the street. "What?" he asked, hand to his helmet. Behind them, a taxi car honked at them to move, and when they didn't, shook their fist at them and started cursing. Great, now even strangers were getting angry at him.</p><p>"What is it?" Harry asked as Iron Fist gunned the engine, leaving the disgruntled taxi driver behind.</p><p>"We've lost sight of Spider-Man," he said. "Nova can't find him anywhere."</p><p>Ice cold frost gripped Harry's heart. "You don't think he found Peter on his own, do you?"</p><p>Iron Fist let out a little laugh. "No," he said, "trust me, he doesn't have a clue where Peter is." For some reason, the absolute certainty in the superhero's voice didn't reassure him one bit.</p><p>.</p><p>There are some questions that you think to yourself, but either you never think you'll get an answer or you're disgusted you even asked the question and hope to avoid the answer at all cost. This question qualified as both; was Man-Spider cannibalistic? Answer: yes. Very much yes. Or at least, judging from the large drool he could spot even from street view and the lady screaming her head off while cocooned in a web hanging between two tall skyscrapers, it seemed like a yes.</p><p>"Hungry," the monster said when they caught up to him, his little mustache feelers rubbing against each other and head cocked to the side. The lady ran away screaming when Nova got her down and Harry couldn't help the urge to join her. He didn't, of course, but that was only because he feared he'd be the next one hanging from New York's largest spider web.</p><p>JJJ was right. Things always got worse with Spider-Man around.</p><p>"Bad Spider-Man. You don't eat people," lectured Powerman, even as Man-Spider kept gnawing at his skin.</p><p>"But hungry," countered the menace, as if that justified anything.</p><p>"Well, what do you want to eat that isn't live humans?" asked White Tiger.</p><p>"Dead humans."</p><p>"Oh, I think I'm about to be sick." Nova covered his mouth with both hands and Harry shared the sentiment. Gross, gross, gross. He hoped to whatever deity out there in the cosmos that his father, Goblin or not, kept his snotty refined culinary tastes and wasn't feeding his pet spider anything under the homo sapien category.</p><p>"How 'bout this, let's go to the nearest butchers and get you some non-human meat; a pig or a cow or something, how does that sound?"</p><p>The very cannibalistic, very murderous man-eater put a hand on his chin as if considering and, at length, shrugged. "Sure."</p><p>.</p><p>The sun was near setting. It didn't mean much in the grand scheme of things; New York was the city that never slept and regardless of how late one went out, there would always be some restaurant or convenience shop open on any block. That being said, he didn't know how many butcher shops they'd find open past sunset because… Well, he'd never needed to be inside a butcher shop.</p><p>Harry wrinkled his nose in disgust. It was close enough to his regular dinner time but he had never felt less hungry in his life as the sounds of Man-Spider tearing through the upper half of a dead pig echoed through the alleyway they'd hid in.</p><p>"Is it safe for him to eat meat that's so...raw?" asked Powerman.</p><p>"Yeah, sure," said White Tiger. "Or... I don't know. We can check once we get him to the lab."</p><p>"Okay, so I got the taco supreme you wanted but there was a shortage of sauce, so you'll have to have your tacos sauceless." Nova landed at the mouth of the alleyway and began passing out the food. Harry accepted his ordered extra large bean and cheese burrito with unreliable fingers. There was no way he'd be able to eat this now.</p><p>"Are you going to eat that?"</p><p>He jumped as the not-so-familiar voice of Man-Spider spoke behind him. Somehow, in the two seconds that passed, the creature from the depths of his worst nightmares had finished his own food, sensed his reluctance for his food, scuttled from the back of the alley to the front where Harry stood, gathered enough brain cells to ask permission for his food, and all without making a sound.</p><p>"Go ahead," he said with disgust. He tossed the burrito to him and watched with fascinated horror as the Spider began scarfing it down, wrapper included.</p><p>"What are you even doing?"</p><p>"Eating," the Spider replied between vicious bites.</p><p>"No, I mean," he gestured to the eight appendages and the hair and the claws and the...everything, "what are you doing searching for Peter Parker? Why are you - What does my da- the Green Goblin have over you when you're like this and could probably deck him 20 times over?"</p><p>He wasn't sure why he asked and wasn't even sure the beast was cognizant enough to give an answer, but the food must've charged his tiny brain, because after it finished the burrito, it replied, "The Green Goblin saved me."</p><p>"Saved, huh? So does that mean he's nice to you too?"</p><p>"He feeds me. Shelters me."</p><p>"Does he do anything more?"</p><p>"He feeds me. Shelters me," it repeated. There was a hint of forlornness in its voice, a want of something more - or maybe Harry was projecting again.</p><p>"Yeah," he said, ignoring the eight eyes concentrated on him, "it's not enough, is it?"</p><p>.</p><p>It was as they were finishing up lunch that White Tiger's communicator beeped. The same guy from before popped up on the hologram. Harry tried to listen to their conversation, but they had dropped their voices to low whispers and he could only catch snippets.</p><p>"-not enough equipment that can-"</p><p>"Should we go up front?"</p><p>"- no, a series of tunnels -"</p><p>"Think it'll be safe?"</p><p>"- for Peter."</p><p>The conversation soon ended after that, but his mind raced with too many possibilities to give the closing words any mind. For Peter. For Peter? What did that mean? Were they still going after Pete? No, that was ridiculous, like they said, they hardly knew Pete. They shouldn't know where he was, but then, they were SHIELD. They knew Man-Spider had broken into his home and he didn't even file a police report, how hard could it be to locate a boy they had the full name of?</p><p>"Okay, change of plans," said White Tiger. "We're going underground."</p><p>"Is Peter underground?" asked Man-Spider. He stretched his limbs, bones cracking like a series of branches snapping underfoot. Harry repressed a shiver.</p><p>"Yeah," answered Powerman. "He's in hiding but he won't be able to hide for long. Come on."</p><p>It didn't take long for the supers to lead them to a manhole cover that led to some access hatch tunnel and, thank the Statue of Liberty, not a sewer. It was dark down there and, not-sewer or not, there were still shadows that darted past in the black-grayness along with soft squeaks. It wasn't the best situation to be in, traversing tunnels with a cannibal spider by the light of Nova's blue glow and Iron Fist's glowing hand - in fact, it was up there for the top 10 worst situations under his dad's goblin transformation and the time his best friend started ditching him for new friends - but at least they were nowhere near Pete. Anything could happen to him, but if something happened to Pete because of what should've only stayed in the family…</p><p>He'd never forgive himself.</p><p>.</p><p>"We're getting close," promised Iron Fist ten minutes later. The light beige speckled slabs of overarching concrete that surrounded them had smoothed out into a boxy light silver of reinforced metal with lights that turned on as they got closer. Must have proxy sensors installed in the walls. Fancy. A little too fancy, all things considered. They came upon a set of steel doors with a keypad next to it, and as White Tiger put the combination in, a sense of paranoia gripped Harry. He checked his phone, and despite how far underground they must've been, it still had a signal. Pressing on the Google Maps app, Harry waited for the pin to drop-</p><p>- And drop it did. Right under Stark Tower.</p><p>His mouth popped open and he had to juggle his phone so it didn't fall flat on the floor. They were under Stark Tower. Stark Tower, where Peter was doing his tour of the facilities in some super nerd program. If SHIELD was trying to cure Spider-Man, wouldn't they be under SHIELD HQ, the triskelion, in the exact opposite direction?</p><p>They were lying. They were trying to lure him into a false sense of security by telling him they had no idea who Peter was and they were lying. Well, jokes on them, two could play at the deceiving game.</p><p>He waited until they crossed the threshold before slamming his hand against the keypad. The hallway lit up a brief red and as he suspected, the steel doors closed faster than a bullet train. Peter may have not had his phone on him, but he knew the next best person to contact, and it so happened that he had her on speed dial.</p><p>"Hello? Harry? Is everything all right?"</p><p>"MJ, it's Peter. Quick, he's in trouble."</p><p>Fists banged against the door. A good bowling ball-sized dent appeared next to his head. He hurried to distance himself from the doors. "You have to get in contact with him. Warn him. Spider-Man has become a monster and my dad-"</p><p>The door flew off its hinges and it was only extreme luck that it didn't hit Harry on its sail past. Man-Spider stood on the other side on all eights, but it was White Tiger that stalked towards him, her claws out. He only had a moment to pray for mercy before the phone was ripped out of his hands and pressed against a masked ear.</p><p>"Heya. Yeah, sorry, someone decided to do a scary movie marathon at Harry's place to see how far the rabbit hole goes and, well, apparently it goes deep," White Tiger said in an all-too-familiar voice. Gone was the hard edge of heroism, replaced with a softer but still short and clipped tone like… "No, no one's after Peter. Don't worry, we'll look after him. Mm-hmm. That's good to know. All right, see ya tomorrow MJ."</p><p>No. No. No, it couldn't be, but…</p><p>"Ava?" Harry croaked.</p><p>"Well, that cat's out of the bag," said Nova, except Nova started to sound a lot like… Sam.</p><p>"Better out the bag than trapped suffocated inside." That sounded - Danny!?</p><p>"Oh, we're going to be in so much trouble once Fury finds out." Luke!?</p><p>He turned to the four of them and instead of superheroes, his mind transposed an image of four teenagers in normal clothes.</p><p>"Ava," he raised a shaky finger to White Tiger. "Sam." Nova. "Luke." Power man. "Danny." Iron Fist. It made sense. Four teens transferring to the school mid-semester who were absent more than they were present, making friends with Pete out of the blue-</p><p>Pete.</p><p>"Where's Peter?" he asked. He couldn't tell because their eyes were covered but their heads tilted in the same direction. Man-Spider crawled his way over, his black, void-like eyes concentrated on Harry and glinting in the low-light.</p><p>"No, no, no, he can't - he would've told me - who would do such a thing-?"</p><p>"His name is Otto Octavius. Currently missing. Now c'mon, I know this is a shock but we need to keep going." White Tiger - Ava - handed him his phone and he took it in a stupor. The group began moving again, underneath Stark Industries where Peter was not at - he knew Pete would never choose Stark over Oscorp - in a vain attempt to…</p><p>Wait, what were they doing here again?</p><p>.</p><p>"I don't have to tell you that if you tell anyone our secret identities we'll pound you into dust, right?" asked Sam. They were lagging behind the group, out of earshot of everyone else. Harry kept his mouth shut, his mind still reeling. Peter was Spider-Man. Spider-Man was Peter. He hated Spider-Man but he couldn't imagine a world without Peter and now Peter was… this fathomless beast, searching for himself, and not figuratively either. What if he never turned back? What if he lost his best friend forever? What if, what if, what if…</p><p>"What are we doing down here? Shouldn't we be searching for a cure for…" he gestured to the eight-legged… thing in front of him.</p><p>"That's what we're doing. We lost a lot of equipment when the helicarrier went down and having the tricarrier or triskelion compromised isn't an option. Luckily, Fury pulled some ties and Stark didn't mind lending out one of his reinforced labs."</p><p>"You think this might be a trap?"</p><p>Sam snorted. He was floating alongside, his body emitting a gentle blue glow. It was hard to think of Sam, Mr. Balance-A-Pencil-On-His-Upper-Lip-During-Math-Class as a superhero with space powers, but now that he knew, it was hard to think of Nova as anything other than Sam. "A Spider-Man sent by Green Goblin and so far traveling peacefully to our destination? If that doesn't scream trap, then I'm not actually a superhero."</p><p>'You're not,' Harry wanted to say if only to be contrary. Instead, he asked, "He doesn't remember a thing?"</p><p>"Not that we can tell. We tried jogging his memory when we first found him, but no luck."</p><p>He didn't seem to remember Harry either. Idly, he wondered if it would make much difference in this state if he did.</p><p>"Do you really think you can cure him?" As the silence stretched on, horrible images of an empty limousine, an empty desk next to his, a hole in his life where Peter stood, assaulted Harry's mind.</p><p>As horrible as the thought was, as deep as he tried to bury it once he thought it, losing his dad to the Green Goblin wasn't as traumatic as everyone thought it was. Oh sure, he'd rather his dad not be a giant terrorizing green monster but the empty seat at the dinner table, the silence permeating the penthouse, the calls that never got picked up… He was used to that. He was used to the silence and as horrible, terrible, absolutely loathsome as it was to say, even if only to himself, there was a certain freedom to having Norman gone; no more expectations to live up to, no more impossible standards to try and reach. So yeah, losing his dad? Not as bad as it could be, all things considered.</p><p>Losing Peter?</p><p>He didn't think he could survive that.</p><p>"We're hopeful," stated Sam. "He was injected with the same stuff your dad was so if we can turn him back then…"</p><p>"Then you can save Dad," and yet, even with those traitorous thoughts laid out, his heart still beat with hope. Foolish hope of a dinner table with two and an impossible finish line crossed. "But if you can't…" then he was down two people in his life for the price of one.</p><p>"Don't think about it too much," Sam advised. "It'll only cause unnecessary worry."</p><p>Not like he wasn't worrying from the moment he realized his best friend was a cannibalistic murder spider. Pushing that aside, he focused on the little tidbit of information Ava dropped. Otto Octavius. At least his dad wasn't the one who transformed Spider-Man, but it was a hollow reassurance in face of the knowledge that he was planning to transform Peter.</p><p>"This Otto guy...He's the one who injected my dad, right?"</p><p>"Yeah."</p><p>Dimly, he remembered Spider-Man's - Peter's - promise to return his dad to him; the desperate pleas, the frantic promises of, "I can fix this." He recalled the disgust his former self felt, the disbelief so thick in his chest he could taste it in his throat. Now, knowing that it was Peter whom he shoved, Peter that he'd accused of ruining his family, Peter who made that promise…</p><p>"Liar," Harry muttered.</p><p>"What was that?" asked Sam.</p><p>"Nothing."</p><p>.</p><p>[MAN-SPIDER]</p><p>.</p><p>He did not like the sleek corridors. They were too sterile and too long and filled with lights too bright. They reminded him of the Octopus' lair. The smell, too, reminded him of the lair, thick and cloying and too clean. He growled as the others led him deeper into the halls, far beneath the sun and the moon. The only reason he had trusted them so far was because the tiger one freed him from the Octopus' collar, and they fed him plenty, but trust could only go so far.</p><p>"We're almost to Peter," said the blond one.</p><p>They came upon another door which the Tiger opened with haste. Finally. Sick of the waiting, the Spider bounded into the room and focused on the lone figure inside. A tall-ish human with a white coat and light brown hair. Was this Peter? Yes, it must be Peter, there was no one else in the room. Before the man could escape, he shot out a web and grinned at the satisfying thump as the body collided with the wall.</p><p>"Peter Parker," he growled, relishing in the fear in the other man's eyes, "I've finally got you." His prey's eyes widened, but he did not struggle -</p><p>- and then the world turned red.</p><p>He whipped around as the doors closed with several other doors that weren't present before banging shut for good measure. It was only then, searching for other exits as the alarm blared, that he noticed the beakers, the syringes, and in the center of it all, a medical table with protruding handcuffs. A trap. He'd been led to a trap and they had plans to experiment on him again. Make him weak and thirsty and hungry and different.</p><p>"We don't want to hurt you, Spider-Man," said the broad one. "We only want our friend back, so why don't you calm down-"</p><p>He roared. Out. He needed out. Out from the too-bright lights that made him half-blind and the syringes and the chemicals. He needed to get Peter back to the Goblin so he could never return again. Grabbing the one-armed man from the web, he charged towards the door. He was strong, stronger than cars and trucks and crumbling buildings, and when he punched the doors, they strained under his force. He destroyed the first door to get to the boy, he could destroy these no problem.</p><p>"Spider-Man, stop this! The only true way out is by returning to what you once were!"</p><p>"Yeah, webhead! Stop being this ugly, super-powered monster, and let us help you get back to your regular ugly monster self."</p><p>They grappled his arms but one swing of his shoulder and they were knocked back like dominoes. Before they could lift themselves, he flexed his wrists and they were cocooned in a sea of silk. The boy still stood off to the side but he seemed too weak and useless to be a threat, and so the Spider punched the doors until the metal gave way, forming a large enough hole to crawl through.</p><p>Then, with Peter in hold, he left.</p><p>.</p><p>The trip to the cathedral was smooth, except for the part where Parker kept screaming in his ear. He'd webbed his mouth shut five minutes into the journey and from there on it was smooth sailing. He entered the cathedral quietly, forgoing his inexplicable urge to burst in through the stained glass, and crawling through the back entrance, he landed on four paws behind his savior.</p><p>"Took you long enough," the Goblin said as he tapped away at his computer; surprising that he could type with such large fingers. "Have you retrieved Peter Parker?"</p><p>"I have." He set the man on the ground and pushed him forward, steadying him as he wobbled on unsteady legs. The Goblin turned, a wide, toothy grin on his face before he caught sight of his prey and his smile fell into a harsh scowl.</p><p>"You fool! That's not Peter Parker! Peter Parker is a scrawny kid with brown hair and both arms."</p><p>The Not-Peter Parker tore the web covering his mouth off. "You know," he glowered, "I'd have both arms if someone didn't decide to be a dick and destroy a certain helicarrier."</p><p>The Spider's brow shot upward. He did not know why, but a feeling of unease lanced through him as the curse left the Not-Peter Parker's mouth; a sense of wrongness like a missed web shot 100 feet in the air. His instincts were telling him to back away and he did so gladly, falling into the shadows.</p><p>"A SHIELD agent, huh? How did you mess up this badly?" The Goblin snarled, leaning into the imposter's face, but the imposter either had bad instincts or a foolish brave streak, because he stood defiantly, not moving an inch.</p><p>"I followed the boy as you told me to and he and his friends led me to him, and so I assumed…"</p><p>"His friends?" Bulbous yellow eyes peered at him and he peered back. "Harry doesn't have any friends, no one besides Peter and that little redheaded girl. When you say led-?"</p><p>His spider-sense went off as multi-colored glass rained down on them. He jumped back as the glowing one burst in, carrying the punchy one in, with the clawed and inedible one following soon after. The Green Goblin growled and with a whistle came his flying glider. "You idiot, you led them straight to us!"</p><p>"If you don't like my results then maybe you should've gone yourself."</p><p>He stretched his arms and legs as the Goblin turned towards him, canines bared. The Spider waited; patient. Despite what the others thought, he was no fool. He knew the Goblin was not to be trusted; his bones, muscles, and heart had screamed from the beginning that the Goblin would turn on him in due time, but he needed a place to rest his head and there was a difference between a one versus one and a one versus one versus four. Now was not the time for a confrontation.</p><p>"Dad, that's enough!" The doors to the cathedral burst open and there stood the boy, panting with effort and haloed by the setting sun. "This ends now!"</p><p>The Goblin's eyes widened then narrowed. His glare was filled to the brim with accusation, "I told you not to interact with the boy!" To the boy, he said, "Harry, get out of here. I have no need for you."</p><p>"No," said the little hatchling. He entered the cathedral, the lights from the monitor highlighting his pale face in shades of green, "You don't get to- to- to spy on me and throw me aside at the same time. You don't get to choose my best friend over me and expect me to just take it."</p><p>"Oh? And what, pray tell, are you going to do about it?"</p><p>The hatchling's fists clenched. Everyone had frozen in anticipation for his next move but, safely ensconced in the shadows, the Spider kept an eye on the spectacle. No need to join in when a quick escape was one window away. From this view, he could not see the boy's face in person, but he caught glimpses of it in the glittering shards which surrounded him. A darting of the eyes, a grimace that pulled more of the left side of his face than his right-</p><p>- and the determination which lit his face as his eyes landed on the little mini-lab in the corner. Or more specifically, the syringe filled with red and black goo the Goblin created only 24 hours prior.</p><p>The boy ran for the lab and the Goblin let out a furious bellow as he flew forward, shock gauntlets raised. The boy's friends yelled their own war cry and tried to stop the predator, but they were outmatched. Green Goblin wasted no time in pushing back the clawed one and the punchy one, and with the other hand electrified the one with unbreakable skin. The flying blue and yellow bee fared a little better, but whatever his glowing blue blasts were made of had little to no effect against the Goblin's tough hide.</p><p>The imposter, like the Spider, had hidden in the shadows behind the motionless body of the Octopus. Others might not have heard him over the sound of battle, but in between grunts of pain and the crackle of electricity was the softest plea; a mournful mutter, "Oh, Otto, what have you done?"</p><p>The Spider scowled. He was not so far gone as to forget sympathies, but they seemed a waste. Why would anyone sympathize with monsters?</p><p>"Spider-Man!" Goblin shocked the leader and she fell to the floor like weak prey, "Prevent Harry from getting that syringe, I don't need him messing up my quest for the perfect son!"</p><p>A direct order. Not a hard order to follow through, not with his webs and the boy's weak stature. The lair was a battlefield of shattered glass, broken monitors, and darkness; bruised heroes trying to subdue one large monster. So far the Goblin was winning and that alone cemented his decision. Winning meant food and the Spider knew better than to walk away from free food.</p><p>He made sure his paws were steady on the wall before flexing his muscles and leaping at the boy. He landed in a roll between him and the miniature lab and used his outstretched limbs as a buffer. It wasn't hard to play goalie, and as the boy cowered back, the Spider kept his senses tuned to the real fight. The bee one and the bulky one had corralled the Goblin to the other side of the room, meanwhile, the other two were nowhere to be seen. Defeated? No, he sensed a set-up of some kind, but would it be enough to throw the beast?</p><p>A glimpse of silver from his left made him refocus. The boy had gotten hold of a syringe. In the dim, green light of the cathedral, it was hard to tell if it was empty or full. Green. Green. Wasn't the Octopus' syringe green? Yes, yes, it had been. It was what gave the Goblin his green coloration. It was what made him... this. He backed away as the boy waved the syringe, his spine straight and confidence rolling out of him in waves now that the Spider had finally shown fear.</p><p>"I don't want to hurt you," shouted the boy, "but I will if I have to! Get out of my way and you won't have to get hurt."</p><p>"Coward," sneered Goblin from where he'd been backed up next to the Octopus' sleep pod. At first, he thought the not-man was talking to him, but then he continued, "you have a weapon and you can't even go through with inflicting an ounce of pain. And here I thought you hated Spider-Man as I did, unless…"</p><p>Fear flashed in the boy's eyes and even from half a room away, the Goblin seemed to be able to pick up on it like blood in the water.</p><p>"You're kidding me. Peter Parker as the Spider?"</p><p>"I, I don't even know what you're talking about!" But even the Spider could tell the boy was bluffing and his poor attempt only made the Goblin laugh.</p><p>"Well, that's a change of plans I didn't see coming, and while a double transformation would be interesting to see, it's unnecessary. This new Spider-Man is already my servant and it would be a waste to use my new formula on him. How about this, Harry? You were always so starved for my affection, if you actually get a hit on little, old Peter with that syringe then I'll forgive you for your horrible digressions and let you take the thing that will finally make you worthy enough to be my son. What do you say?</p><p>Peter this, Peter that, they kept talking about Peter and now they were talking as if he were Peter. A million faces flickered past each other, trying to match a boy with brown hair and blue eyes. A rotten something blossomed in his chest, like a spider-sense ringing in his heart, warning him of danger. No, he was not Peter. Peter was a scrawny boy with two arms. Scrawny and weak. Too weak to be him.</p><p>He promised himself he'd never be weak again.</p><p>"Do it!" yelled Goblin. "Isn't this what you wanted!? He's right there, just do it!"</p><p>Another sound of shattering glass. Grunts of fighting. The Spider waited for the pain to start but it never came. The boy had the syringe raised but his entire body shook like frightened prey. The Spider would've laughed if he weren't paralyzed with fear as well.</p><p>Finally, the boy's brow lowered as he came to a decision. Dropping the syringe, he darted past him and to the chem lab where he grabbed the red and black syringe - was he going to use it on him? Was he going to transform the Spider again, into something unrecognizable, so that even the darkness was large and foreign to him? In a fit of anger and quick, fear-fueled adrenaline, the Spider reached out and slapped the syringe out of the boy's hand. His eyes followed as the syringe flew end over end, across the room, over the heads of the heroes and the monster-</p><p>- to land in the sleep-pod of the Octopus; the large glass top shielding him from the rest of the world having somehow been shattered in the fight.</p><p>The others kept fighting, not realizing what had happened. He and the boy, however, stared wide-eyed as the syringe fell past the pod's edge and out of view. There was no way it... There was no second sound of shattering that he heard, but as they watched, the imposter peered over the sleep pod's edge with eyes that widened in growing horror. "Octavius," he gasped, before stumbling back on unsteady feet as a red and black hand shot out of the pod, like a man returned from the grave.</p><p>"God, I so did not need this today," said the boy.</p><p>The Spider said nothing, but he agreed vehemently.</p><p>.</p><p>[THE OCTOPUS]</p><p>.</p><p>When was the last time his body obeyed him? The last time he could tell his arm to rise and it would rise, the last time he could tell his legs to lift and they would lift? What was the last thing he felt before his body became numb to sensation? Was it the fire licking at his skin or his spine as it snapped in half against the counter?</p><p>No, he remembered. It was Norman, cradling his limp body as everything fell to ruin.</p><p>And now - now he could lift his arm and move his neck without pain. He could breathe without trouble while running his fingers against the cage that had kept him captive and feel the dust underneath his fingertips. He brushed his fingers against the sharp edge of broken glass and hissed as the inevitable pain set in; nociceptors traveling information through his nervous system and into his brain. He laughed, loud and maniacal even to his own ears, as the pain flowed, and he had to resist the urge to grip the broken glass tighter until he bled out to make sure this wasn't a dream.</p><p>"Octavius?"</p><p>He turned on his feet - two feet - and it stunned him to see Connors there. He had forgotten how the other man looked at eye-level, so used to seeing others from ten feet off the ground. At eye level, it was easier to see his jawline and the broad width of his shoulders and - he had one arm. Did he always have one arm? No, no, Octavius was quite sure he had two when they did their graduate project together, though that was so long ago. A lifetime ago. Compared to then, Connors looked a wreck.</p><p>He wondered how he looked. The symbiote did a good job of making it seem as if nothing was amiss, no red or black blocking his vision. If it weren't for the fact that he could suddenly move and his body was red and black, he wouldn't have thought anything amiss. Well, except his tongue. It felt, somehow, too large for his mouth as he spoke.</p><p>"I should've lisssstened to you, old friend. You warned me against taking the Osssscorp job and decadessss of my life have gone by in missssery. Not anymore."</p><p>Connors was always a worrier and decades haven't seemed to change the fact. With his one arm, he clung to Octavius like a limpet, silently begging him not to go. Too little, too late. "What are you going to do, Otto?"</p><p>"What else? Get my revenge. Don't get in my way unless you want two missing arms."</p><p>He turned then to find the fight in full swing. The kids stood no chance of course, not against his creation, but it was amusing to watch. He caught the eyes of his other creation from across the way and judging by the way Spider-Man backed up, he would find no opposition from him. Good. Of course, the thought occurred that he could go after the Spider as well, kill two birds with one stone, but he dismissed it for later. As annoying and troublesome as the superhero was, he was nowhere near Norman's level.</p><p>No, Norman's sins outweighed all theirs combined.</p><p>Ignoring the duo, he turned to the Green Goblin. Despite the trouble it sometimes caused him, he wished that he had his mechanical arms. He was too used to maneuvering with them, the height it gave and the way they moved like his own limbs when they-</p><p>- and as soon as he wished for it, it came true. He lifted off the ground, four black tendrils acting as make-shift appendages, bringing him closer to the action. This symbiote thing was very handy, but of course it was; he was the one who synthesized it. Oh yes, it originated from a part of Spider-Man's blood, but it had his fingerprints all over it. He should've injected himself with it eons ago.</p><p>The first punch was a little lackluster. Norman didn't move much but the surprise on his face more than made up for it. In this Green Goblin form, there were no pupils, but he could tell by the tilt of that ugly green chin that the Goblin was looking between him and the broken cage he'd placed him in.</p><p>"That serum wasn't for you," the Goblin growled.</p><p>"Too bad." The next punch was more satisfying as Norman stumbled back. He punched him again with his fists instead of his tendrils because he wanted to feel the meaty thwack as his hit landed. "Do you know how long I've wanted to do this? The pain and agony you put me through, disguised as kindness? Well, thank you for all you've done, I have a decade and a half of kindness to repay you with!"</p><p>"What are you whining about? I saved you."</p><p>"Oh, is that what you call keeping me in the basement of your skyscraper while profiting off my work? Well, let me save you as well."</p><p>A crackling gauntleted hand rose to meet his torso but these extra arms were a lot more dexterous and strong than his last ones. Black tendrils twisted over the raised arms until it met the shoulders and twisted; the big behemoth of a monster forced to fall to his knees or else have his arm broken out of its socket. While two of his extra arms did that, the other two crept into the Goblin's open mouth, filling his lungs with black goo until he choked on it.</p><p>Yellow eyes bulged. It was odd, he could both feel the extra arms and not feel them. Phantom sensations hit him as he felt the quivering walls of his victim's lungs search for air that was never going to come; as he felt the warmth that came with having his hand down another person's living body overheat with effort and a lack of oxygen; as a throat convulsed against his not-skin.</p><p>Then the kids had to ruin it. He'd thought they'd rejoice at him taking care of their shared enemy, but he supposed their naive sense of ethics and morality wouldn't make this easy.</p><p>"Get away, creep!" shouted the boy with a helmet on his head. Otto retracted his arms to try and grapple him from the sky. The Green Goblin collapsed to his side, gulping for air like a fish flopping on land. Pathetic.</p><p>"I have no qualms with you kids, just let us be and we'll be fine."</p><p>The children, of course, didn't listen. Oh well, their funerals.</p><p>"White Tiger to SHIELD, requesting back up. We are at-"</p><p>"Oh, no, no, no. We can't have that." He smashed her communicator with extreme prejudice. Having taken apart Spider-Man's communicator, it was simple to ensure that not even the durable, waterproof trackers would be functional after he was through with it. Before her teammates could even think to copy, he did the same to theirs. "There. Now it's only us. Not too late to run."</p><p>They all braced themselves in a fighting stance.</p><p>"We're not cowards," stated Powerman. "And we're not running."</p><p>"Your loss."</p><p>"No," snarled Nova. "it was your loss the moment you decided to mess with our team."</p><p>Otto smirked. "We'll see about that."</p><p>.</p><p>For a bunch of snot-nosed kids, they were prolific fighters, and if they were any more cohesive, they might've taken him out, but unfortunately for them, it was clear they had gotten used to a team of five and without their team leader, they were too unstructured, too Spider-Man-reliant, to defeat him. Octavius sneered at the limp Powerman before using his newfound strength to throw him atop the pile of other limp, unmoving bodies.</p><p>Now, to take care of Norman.</p><p>Alarm bells blared in his head. It only took a second to register the whir of a Gatling gun before the bullets started flying. He dodged the spray of bullets with a dexterity that had eluded him even before the incident, climbing the walls as glass shattered and sturdy brickwork began to resemble swiss cheese. So this symbiote came with a sort of precognition sense. Useful.</p><p>"Why don't you stand still?"</p><p>"Why don't you shut up?"</p><p>He ran along the walls, his feet sticking to the perpendicular surface as if it were the floor. On nothing more than a vague hypothesis, he outstretched his arms in a move he'd seen Spider-Man do a thousand times before and flexed his arm. No web came out, but an inky tendril shot itself from his wrist to land on the Goblin's forehead. It didn't deter him any; if anything, it seemed to make his creation more incensed.</p><p>"Enough playing around." A large gloved hand reached for the tendril and Octavius had the delightful experience of having his body tasered. His skin lit with a burning sensation as the tendril acted as a conduit, and even in the throes of pain he relished the feeling. He fell to the ground as his concentration failed; the Gatling gun whirring again, warming up before another round of bullets would enter his body and make his quest for revenge another failure. His final failure.</p><p>No, failure or not, he wouldn't go down alone.</p><p>His extra arms shot out faster than a speeding bullet, curling against the handle and barrel of the gun and yanking. The Green Goblin must've not been as strong as he looked, or was simply too shocked to give much of a fight because the gun came easily. Otto lifted himself to his feet and smiled at the yellow-eyed fear on the Goblin's face as he aimed the barrel at him.</p><p>"You know, I could kill you with a million bullets to the chest, face, feet, and have it be over with; you're a big target after all, and I doubt I'd miss, but call me an old-fashioned man." Then with his hands, his real hands, he turned the gun sideways and twisted the barrel until it resembled more a double helix, metal screeching under his fingers, and then with his extra arms, threw it until it landed somewhere in the darkness behind the bank of half-broken monitors.</p><p>"Bold choice, Octavius."</p><p>"I learned it from you, Mr. Osborn."</p><p>The Goblin's toothy grin turned into a snarl. "There is no more Mr. Osborn. Only Green Goblin."</p><p>"There won't be either after I'm done with you."</p><p>And with that, it was on.</p><p>.</p><p>The fight was tough. Tougher than fighting the kids, by a long shot. They were in the Goblin's territory, with the Goblin's little toys at his disposal: the electrified gauntlets, the flying glider, the little bombs he threw around the room like confetti. Even with his precognition sense and his enhanced strength and agility, the shape-shifting symbiote which obeyed his commands telepathically; it was clear the Goblin had the advantage, with his toys and his strength, but Otto had something the Goblin didn't.</p><p>A purpose.</p><p>Oh, Norman always had his reasons. Money, power, ego, but those were shallow purposes. The man had never struggled as Otto Octavius did. He never had himself wronged so thoroughly it no doubt broke several Geneva Conventions, as Octavius did.</p><p>But Otto would change that soon enough.</p><p>.</p><p>Somewhere in the middle of crashing the glider into the side of Norman's face and having his body electrocuted for the fourth time, Otto became aware of the fact that he was winning. Green blood seeped from the corner of the Goblin's lips and his tough hide had been broken in some places, revealing the red muscle of his inner thighs and upper torso. He'd taken his fair share of hits too, but the symbiote was either quick to heal him or pumped enough endorphins and adrenaline through his system that he didn't notice it. He pounded his fists against dark green skin and laughed as the Goblin began shielding his face like some middle school kid against their bullies' fist; his damaged gauntlets having long since lost their yellow lights.</p><p>"You know," he cackled as his blunt fingers and the black goop serving as his extra arms turned razor-sharp, "I hate to kill one of my own creations like this but it's not like I can't make new ones."</p><p>More blood poured out of the monster's mouth. Green blood-stained white teeth. Dimly, a voice Otto had tuned out grew louder and louder until it became too hard to ignore.</p><p>"Peter, please, you have to help your team. They're your - your friends! You kept ditching me for them, so they have to be important to you. They can't - you can't-!" It was the boy, Harry, wailing like a madman; his breath stuttering as he fought for air. "You're Spider-Man, right? Spider-Man's a hero, you're a hero, and that means you save the day. You promised you'd save my dad for me. You'd never break your promise, right?"</p><p>Norman's son kept blubbering, whining about broken promises and friendship. They were by the front of the building, the Spider clinging to the wall and only a few feet away from a broken window that could serve as his escape, if only Norman's son would let him go. The boy kept tugging at one of the Spider's eight arms like a child anxiously waiting for his parents to check under their bed and tell them the monsters were just a nightmare; that they would be forgotten by morning. He doubted Norman ever did such comforting things for his pathetic excuse of a son and this monster was no different, staying firm on the wall with no hint of budging. Truly, Octavius would feel bad for the poor kid if he didn't have an intimate understanding of the irredeemable monster Norman was.</p><p>He returned to pummelling the Goblin with gusto, enjoying the whimpers of pain that he strung from the beast; he had to have a broken rib cage at least-</p><p>until…</p><p>It started from the left to his right. A loss of sensation. A limpness that had his mind spiraling with horror. No, no, what was happening? Were they not compatible? Was his body rejecting the symbiote? No, it couldn't be. Why now, when he was so close? He turned his head with an effort that he hadn't felt since he'd woken up with spider DNA coursing through his blood and froze as the boy stood there, a thin black tendril connecting them and nothing else.</p><p>"That's right," Harry said, his body becoming consumed by the darkness even as the red and black began to leave him, and with it, control of his body. "You know me," he said. "We were Venom. We have a bond. We're friends." The tendrils wrapped around his skin, spreading like an oil spill up his forearm, under his clothes, under his skin - Otto fell to his knees as his body became too weak to support itself. "We're family."</p><p>As his control left him once again, he thought he might die like this, starved or dehydrated to death on the floor of a dirty cathedral, his body lying next to broken glass and spent bullet casings, but of course, Norman could never let him have such a dignified death. No, he reached one of his large hands out and as his son sucked the life from him, he pressed his oversized mitt around his throat and squeezed.</p><p>"Dad, don't!"</p><p>"Mind your business, weakling!" Norman spat, blood flicking onto Octavius' face, "This is between me and the Octopus."</p><p>Funnily enough, the harder the Goblin squeezed, the more in control he felt. An unheard side effect of asphyxiation, but one he didn't mind experiencing in his final moments. It wasn't until he was tugging at thick, barrel arms with previously numb hands that Otto realized it wasn't a side effect, the symbiote was returning. With a vicious thought, a black tendril as sharp as a serrated knife bisected the Goblin's face. The hand around his throat let go and he dropped to the floor on his knees and gasped for air.</p><p>"What are you doing?" howled Goblin. He clutched at his face as green blood dropped into his eyes. "You wanted Venom, didn't you? Then go get it, you pathetic excuse of a human being."</p><p>"What? I don't get it." The boy was looking at his hands with lost eyes. No, not lost. Fearful. Norman's bad parenting had come in his favor, it seemed. The boy was afraid of the symbiote where Otto embraced it, and with Norman's charming brand of parenting, the boy's fear triumphed his determination, causing the symbiote to favor him. "Why won't it listen to me? I was its first host."</p><p>"You may have been its first host, little Osborn, but I was its creator." There was a thin line still connecting them, but it was easy enough to disconnect it as he tossed the boy to the side. He had tenderized his creation enough, dark green bruises littering his torso, cheek, and arms, and his blue suit tattered to pieces. It was time to finish this.</p><p>The scream that erupted from the Goblin's throat was music to his ears as he pierced the skin and found his stomach. It was quite the experience, being able to feel the sharp-tip edge as it penetrated the abdominal muscles, going deep and finding the soft stomach walls, piercing that and feeling the slimy, acidic gastral-intestine process in all its half-broken down food glory, and then coming out of the backside while brushing against the sharp edge of a rib. Quite invigorating.</p><p>He retracted his shapeshifting spear and before his first one left the body fully, he plunged the second one into his intestines. And so it went, creating his own Goblin swiss cheese, letting tendril after tendril puncture the body and relishing as the creature who had tortured him for so long had his life drained from him as blood pooled on the floor and between the toes of his feet. Green blood coated his body, but he did not care. In fact, he was pretty sure the symbiote was absorbing the green, making him stronger, faster, more ruthless. Monstrous.</p><p>.</p><p>He did not know when the Goblin drew his last breath or when stabbing an overgrown body turned to defiling a corpse, but by the time he was done the Goblin was long dead, his eyes hazy and unseeing and his body as limp as Octavius' once was. His guts spilled over the floor was nothing less than pure carnage.</p><p>When the bloodlust and adrenaline diminished enough to take proper stock of his surroundings, he found the silence louder than gunfire. The Spider had left in the ruckus and as far as he could tell, so did the boy. No doubt when the carnage started, he ran away with his tail between his legs like a true Osborn. Funny, Norman had wanted nothing to do with his offspring but recent insight provided evidence toward untapped potential. It would be a great experiment, wouldn't it? Do what Osborn couldn't and make a perfect son with the one he ignored.</p><p>Yes, it would be his grandest experiment yet.</p><p>But alas, said son was nowhere to be found and he still had a group of unconscious teenagers to take care of.</p><p>"I guess you'll do in the meantime," he said as he stalked over to their bodies.</p><p>"No!"</p><p>Octavius tensed. Someone was here? Why hadn't his precognition abilities warned him? But then he relaxed as Curt Connors came stumbling out of the darkness, his face pale and his face drenched with sweat. He spread one arm as his other sleeve flapped uselessly at his side. "Please, not the children," he pleaded. "They're just kids. Otto, please.</p><p>Octavius scoffed. Curt Connors, always the humanitarian. It was mildly annoying in graduate school but now it was downright pathetic.</p><p>"You just witnessed me murder a man in cold blood and yet you have the gall to stand up to me?"</p><p>"I don't know what Norman did to you, whether he deserved it or not, but if you have any humanity left in you, you'll let them go and send them back to SHIELD. Please, I'll do anything."</p><p>Octavius paused in his persistent walk forward. "And what would I want with a scientist with a single arm when I could have four superpowered teens to experiment on?"</p><p>"You know my brainpower, Otto. I can help you with - with what you need. I can be your lab assistant or…"</p><p>Octavius leaned in close. He opened his mouth and his tongue rolled out. It was long; longer than he was used to and it only seemed to expand when exposed to the cathedral's dusty air. For some reason, he had an incredible urge to lick Connors' face, and so licked he did, his taste buds registering nothing but sweat and sweet, sweet fear.</p><p>"Look at you, you can't defeat me. What's sssstopping me from taking the children anyway and forcing you to work for me, keeping you in a dark, dank basement for yearssss as Norman did to me? Hmmm?"</p><p>There was utter confidence, too much confidence, in Connors' voice as he stated, "You're not Norman."</p><p>Octavius stood back, his tongue slipping back into his mouth. He rolled his neck and let the symbiote fall away from him, smiling as he stood on his two feet all on his own for the first time in a lifetime.</p><p>"Good answer."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>
  <a href="https://twitter.com/Neverweremine1">twitter</a>
</p><p> </p><p>So quick heads up, I'm gonna take a little break from this series because WOO BOY, this was a /lot/ and my brain's kind of fuzzled up. If you didn't read the beginning note this series was basically commissioned from two people whom I love v much, thank you for supporting me and I'd love to continue this at a later time if you want but that would have to be after, like, a break. Thanks for reading though and following along if you have!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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